


hurt

by gingergenower



Series: falling (slowly) [1]
Category: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, MJ Needs a Hug, Pining, Spoilers, at least Peter tries to comfort MJ- she's not very good at the reading signals thing yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 11:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11622483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingergenower/pseuds/gingergenower
Summary: MJ twists her ankle in gym class, so Peter helps her get to the nurse.





	hurt

MJ winces, stretching her leg out and pulling a face at her own ankle. ‘Next week, I’m reading _The Picture of Dorian Gray_ and you’re not going to say a word about it.’

‘It’s twisted,’ Coach Wilson says, ignoring her. ‘Do you think you can get to the nurse?’

‘I’ll walk on my hands, shall I?’

Coach Wilson ignores her again as Ned offers her a hand and she staggers up on one foot, Peter stepping in and putting his arm around her waist to make sure she stays upright. 

He just pulls her tighter to his side when she sways, pressing her up against him, but he doesn’t even seem to notice how close they are. ‘I’ll take her, sir,’ he says, and Coach Wilson shrugs, waving them off.

The drama’s over and everyone wanders away. Peter arranges her arm around his shoulders and takes whatever weight she puts on him, walking slowly to the door, but it’s a strain. She can hardly move her foot without it being agony. 

She doesn’t want to touch Peter.

‘Are you alright?’ he asks, shifting her to open the door and get them both through.

Determined to get some physical space between them, MJ tries to take a step of her own. Her foot gives under her and Peter has to grab her to keep them both upright, stumbling through the doors until he can balance her.

He checks her over, and she’s biting her lip- trying not to cry- and he swallows, looking worried. ‘No, you’re not. Screw it.’

With no more warning than that, he bends down, arm sweeping her knees out from under her, and scoops her up.

She squeaks, clutching his shirt. ‘Peter!’

Already walking, not putting any visible effort into holding her up, he grins. ‘Yeah?’

‘You’ll drop me!’

‘I won’t.’

Sagging in his arms, she groans. ‘I hate you.’

He makes a noise in the back of his throat, like he’s agreeing to humour her, and she heaves her head back up to watch him through narrow eyes.

‘What?’

He’s grinning, pleased with himself, and MJ swallows.

MJ never thought she’d get this close to him. She never thought they’d be friends, she never thought it would matter what she felt. She never thought she’d be clinging to him when his hair’s curling with sweat and every breath she takes is breathing in whatever he showered with this morning. Why did she let this happen?

‘Since when are you this strong?’

‘I’m not _that_ strong,’ he says, shifting her weight onto one arm so he can get the door.

MJ waits until he catches her eye, and he snorts out a laugh.

‘Ok, I’m quite strong.’

‘Last week you told me you slept for three hours and you looked like I could poke you and you’d fall over. Then Coach told us to do some warm-up press ups. You did about 80 and you didn’t even break a sweat. Yes, you’re strong.’

Frowning, he thinks. ‘Did I? I don’t remember that. Was that last week?’

‘You fell asleep in the canteen.’

He still looks blank.

‘Ned drew on you.’

‘Ohh, yeah,’ he says, and she flicks his hair off his forehead. The red lightning bolt Harry Potter “scar” is faded to light pink now, but it’s there. ‘I still owe him for that. Do you want to conspire with me to steal his bag so I can cover his notebooks in _Hello Kitty_ stickers?’

‘Why _Hello Kitty_?’

‘He’s allergic to cats.’

‘I’m in.’

He grins, and he stops because they’re already outside the nurse’s station. 

Setting her down gently, he keeps his arm around her, and she’s turned towards him when he tucks stray hair behind her ear. They catch each other’s eye, and she can’t bring herself to look away. His eyes are normally bright; he’s skittish and buoyant and never quite in one place, never still long enough to look at someone like this. He’s not moving now.

‘Can I help?’ The nurse pokes her head around the door.

MJ blinks and Peter answers, but he does at least have the decency to look a little dazed.

‘She twisted her ankle,’ Peter says, pointing at the offending leg. ‘She can’t walk.’

‘It’s not that bad-’

‘Mm-hmm,’ he says, raising his eyebrows at the nurse.

Smacking his arm, MJ tells him to shut up, but he just laughs at her and helps her get to the nurse’s bed. The nurse asks Peter if he’d like to stay, but MJ waves him away.

‘I don’t need moral support or whatever. You can go back to class.’

Pretending not to see the argument he wants to have, she accepts the ice pack the nurse wrapped in a towel and doesn’t look at him again.

He leaves, but not before he gives her hand a squeeze- the fingers numb like he’s crushed it.

The nurse tells her to take her shoe off in case her foot swells, and MJ leans over to fight with her laces and grits her teeth as she yanks it off. 

It’s not Peter's fault. She knows that. She needs to put her nose back in her books and pretend he doesn’t exist and give herself time to build that wall up again, because being this close to him and not being with him might be the worst part of it. It hurts.

**Author's Note:**

> I bet the few who didn't read the tags thought this would be fluff, bahaha :D (it was supposed to be but Feelings took over)
> 
> EDIT: there have been a few requests in the comments for a continuation of this. Obviously, with so many people interested I'm going to try getting something down in the next few days, but I don't feel like I can _guarantee_ anything because inspiration for me is unpredictable at best. So I'll keep you updated :)
> 
> EDIT of the EDIT: I wrote a second part. Yay!


End file.
